oS A14 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 18, 2006 _ Albe ‘ta has better method ~ — to deal with old gas tanks . ". By SARAH A, ZIMMERMAN taminated gas station site -IF GIANNINO Pretto’s con-_ had been‘ located in Alberta: instead of B.C. he may have -avoided the five-year battle with Shell Canada over who ‘That’s because a program spearheaded by the Albertan government in 2000 and con- tinued this year has contrib- uted more than $100 million to help small-business own- ers and municipalities pay to is responsible for dealing . ” " with the location. “ clean up contaminated gas. - station sites.” ‘In B. C.’ no such program = exists; Butone environment min- ‘ istry official says the minis- try is looking at the Alberta program as part of a broader study into other programs in . Canada and the U.S.: It’s part of an effort to de- : velop this. province’ s strat- ““egy-on dealing with. con-.. - taminated sites, says Mike a Macfarlane; acting manager of B.C.’ s land remediation program. - .’ When it comes. to deal- in B.C. it’s a a “polluter pay” wy ing’ “with contaminated sites system, Macfarlane says, adding current or past own- ers, leasees and others can, be held responsible for con- taminated sites. Clean up’ costs for: such — sites can reach hundreds of _ thousands of dollars. “site remediation . program, ‘municipalities and business owners who own no more than five retail gas Stations can apply for up to $150,000 to pay for the ex- | pensive clean up costs. That. allows ‘the. small business person the oppor- ‘tunity to continue running their business and obtain financing or- allows them to sell the property at fair mar- ket value once the soil has been excavated and replaced with’ clean soil. The program also . extends to municipali-' ties who get stuck with con- .taminated Properties aban- . doned by owners. . “The key is that ‘it'takes ©: land that’ was productive at one:.point, now. has’ fallen be productive,” says Jay O'Neill, an official with Al- : GIANNINO PRETTO battled for five years, inan effort to get Shell Canada to’ accept - responsibility for the contamination on his Kalum St. gas station site. In 2002, when Under Alberta’ s ‘tanks . small. into the unproductive stage c and then turns. it back: to _and other stakeholders that , there was an identified prob-. “David Block a berta’ S. Ministry of Munici- pal Affairs. The. program ‘does not assist big oil or other com-. panies, rather: it’s focussed on the smaller business: per- son who may have invested © his or her life savings into ‘a business only to discover they can no longer obtain. financing. because the site 1 is] contaminated, ” a Tnmostcases the sitecan’t t - be sold. unless it is, cleaned up or unless the buyer agrees >to take.on the responsibility , forthe clean up... “I think there was a lot of “discussion out all across the this photo was taken, tanks on his property were replaced after contaminated soil qv . Campus 2020: Thinking ahead is a planning process to help ~ shape the vision of B.C’s post-secondary education system. - It's about building on our strengths, while looking at new approaches to expand learning opportunities across the - province. Join Campus 2020 special advisor Geoff Plant ata public forum coming to a community near you. © To pre-register to. speak at a public forum, visit the Campus 2020 website and register online,or phone Campus 2020 in Victoria at... 250 356-5533 3 or toll free at 1 800- 663-7867. TERRACE Wednesday, October 25. West Banquet Room, Coast Inn of the West 4620 Lakelse Avenue A ” was removed in the vicinity of the tank farm. Shell Canada accepted responsibility for the contamination this year and bought the site back from Pretto. Visit www.campus2020.bce.ca for information about additional public forums and other ways you can participate. BON Ts RASS Saas BRITISH 7 COLUMBIA The Best Place on Place on Earth - municipalities. , the program. | Provera “FILE PHOTO . province from municipali- tions’ to. replace old tanks ties, municipal associations . with new ones. _ And much like the case of Giannino Pretto, who. lem and something had to discovered his property was PT OIRTY THIRTIES be done to take a look at it,” contaminated after instal!-"’ says O’Neill. ing new tanks in 2001, many The first phase of the Al- gas .station owners found themselves in a tough spot not being able to afford the © clean up. . Terrace city planner. David Block: says the five gas :station sites in Terrace. which are currently. sitting vacant and unused are not necessarily a problem, but the cost to rehabilitate them is cost prohibitive. He’d like « _to see those sites cleaned up & so they could be developed . rather than sitting vacant. berta program was launched in 200 and gave money to 930 applicants including 66 ' The’ second phase ‘of the program,..launched just last. month should see another 600. applicants participate in In Alberta, the discovery of contaminated . sites in- ‘creased after 1992 when the. Alberta fire code changed requiring owners of gas sta- ondiniv dy The Terrace Standard is. LARRY JACOBSON | Ba WER POINT. PRE ENTATION Mr. Jacobson will tell stories from:his memoirs . __ “Leaning into the wind”, about.growing up: in Southern B.C. and Alberta during the © dirty thirties. He also visited Terrace many times while working as a consultant. Where: Terrace Public Library (Art Gollery) When: Thursday, October 26th Time: 7:00 p.m. _ Everyone Welcome! Saw Ww NOSRO DVI AYav INVIIASNOD JDVes3l WWW, rasta com Check out our site or call 638-7283 tor senting information TERRACE SeNeean LARRY JACOBSON MEMOIRS LEANING IN THE Event . SHIH, ALMIG L838T¥ DE NYFHLNOS dN ONIMOYND ANIA ome and claim “ nn : . neo 7 4 ins a r voy You can count on Coroltes to deliver reliable and spirited performance. yearatter year And thanks to its reputation, there's something else So if you already own \ you can count on. exceptional resale value a Corolla. come in and find out what it’s worth. If not. maybe it's time you invested in one- sometimes AN OLD STORY just NEEDS A NEW VOICE Nicole Nicholas comes from a long line of Haida storytellers. So when she penned the story “First Contact”, '’ about her ancestors’ first ericounter with Europeans, this high school student added another generation to ‘its legacy. And won the Canadian Aboriginal Youth Writing Challenge along the way. At Enbridge, it’s just one of the many Aboriginal heritage initiatives we’re proud to support. It’s the kind of thinking that makes us one of only five Canadian companies ranked in the Global 100: Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. Enbridge is a Canadian leader in energy transportation and distribution. For information on the Enbridge Gateway Project visit enbridge.com/gateway CLuerioce ’ Where energy meets people” : _Corolla’s value. “You may have a treasure sitting in your trunk! your = : Visit your local ; Toyota BC Dealer to learn more. MACCeSS \PTOvOTA rs) nicer. way to buy a car. ; wf